Afraid Of Heights
by Jeanne152
Summary: Jedi Padawan Dan Yates is known to be one of the best Padawan pilots of the Order. But when he crashed during a supposedly easy landing, his master, Anakin Skywalker finds out something new about his Padawan...
1. Chapter 1

Anakin Skywalker stared at his Padawan, dumbfounded at what the latter just said. He asked, "Dan, you can't be serious."

His Padawan only stared at his shoes, as if they were the most interesting things in the galaxy.

Anakin face-palmed. He sighed, "You just said that you have this… thing against heights." Dan nodded slowly. "And yet, Lyn told me, and you've proved, that you're one of the best Padawan pilots in the Order, even better than Ahsoka! And you were just telling me that you're afraid of heights and that's the reason you crashed your starfighter during landing!"

Dan didn't look up. "Basically, yes. I couldn't stand looking at the ground, and that's why I crashed during my landing," he muttered under his breath. Anakin threw his arms in the air with frustration. "I can't believe this! How can you fly so well if you're even too afraid to look at the ground?" He ranted. Dan looked up at his master now and explained, "Master, there is no ground in space! How can I be afraid if there is no ground to be afraid of in the first place? I'm a good fighter when I'm in space, Master, not when I'm landing or patrolling on a planet."

During Dan's entire explanation, Anakin didn't say a word. Even when the fifteen-year-old was finished, Anakin still seemed to be thinking hard.

"Definitely not a good sign," Dan thought.

He mustered up all of his courage and asked, "Master, are you alright?"

Anakin suddenly grabbed Dan's wrist and literally dragged him towards the hangar. Dan struggled, but to no avail, and protested, "Master, you don't have to drag me! I can walk just fine on my own."

Anakin didn't comply. If anything, his grip only became firmer than before. Dan sighed, "This is going to be a LONG ride."

Just then, they arrived beside a training fighter with two seats. Anakin shoved Dan inside, sitting him on the back seat before claiming his spot at the front. After ensuring that both of them are strapped securely, Anakin took the controls and the fighter climbed to the sky. Dan shut his eyes, not wanting to look at the ground. After a while, Dan guessed that their altitude was so high that they couldn't see the ground anymore. Figuring that it was safe, Dan peeked out of the cockpit.

To his horror, the ship was only a few hundred meters above the ground. Dan stared at the horrifying distance between them and the streets of Coruscant. Unable to peel his eyes off the view, Dan squeezed the seat so hard that there were deep nail marks on it. "No, I wasn't afraid of heights," Dan mumbled, "I was afraid of SEEING the ground from a high altitude."

Dan could hear Anakin laughing, "Really, Dan? How couldn't that be classified as a fear of heights?"

The Padawan bit his lips. "There was a saying. It's not the fall that kills. It's the sudden stop." The Jedi Master stopped his laugh abruptly. There was a pause before he said, "You're right. But we need to take care of this fear of yours. No excuses! If you hesitate on the field, you're liable to get someone killed, Padawan!"

Dan didn't say anything because he knew his master was right, and Anakin knew that Dan understood what he meant, so he said, "Okay, Dan. I'll let go of the controls. Take over when it's necessary."

Dan muttered a yes, so Anakin jerked the control stick downwards, sending the ship plummeting towards the ground. Dan gasped in surprise and fidgeted in his seat, staring at the ground in fright. Funnily enough, the night that fell over Coruscant just minutes earlier seemed like deep spacec, and the city lights bore an uncanny resemblance to stars.

During his short stay with his adopted parents in their orphanage, Dan often found himself lying on the grass, staring at the night sky above him. He was often accompanied by friends, as they, too, found the stars stunning. They used to joke or tell stories under those stars, pretending all the while that they were secret angels sent to guard and supervise them. A boy even said that they were the spirits of their families.

Holding for dear life on that happy memory, Dan felt more relaxed and was able to jerk the ship's nose upwards just moments before they crash.

The ship shook and trembled at the sudden and drastic change of trajectory, but under Dan's expert controlling, the ship flew steadily just a few feet above the ground, its belly nearly scraping the roofs off of houses.

Anakin laughed happily at Dan's wonderful improvement, and Dan followed suit moments after. Dan was so happy that he did some fancy aerobatic maneuvers, his skill rivaling those of the Blue Angels'. This resulted in some close calls with other drivers, with most of them sticking their heads out of the window and shouting off curses at them in various languages. Dan couldn't care less. He would've continued his little airshow if Anakin hadn't taken back the controls, chuckling, "Okay, showoff. That's enough with the airshow."

"Aw, come on, Master. Why don't we have a little competition to see who's better between us? Or are you too afraid to do it?" Dan teased. He knew that his trick would work, and despite the fact that Anakin had suspected it, the Jedi master suddenly turned the ship upside down and did a (reversed) loop-the-loop.

Both pilots continued their little competition, each taking turns making breath-taking maneuvers. After a few minutes, they finally landed, with Dan on the controls. It was a bit shaky, but they didn't crash.

As the two Jedi came off their ship, they were greeted by an annoyed Obi-wan Kenobi at the hangar. Upon seeing this, Anakin whispered to Dan, "Oh-oh. Get ready for it, kiddo." Dan nodded in acknowledgement, and they walked towards the bearded Jedi master.

Anakin grinned, "Hi, Obi-wan. What's up?"

Obi-wan sighed, "Why did you do that?"

Anakin smiled innocently, "Did what, Knobs?" When Dan heard the nickname, he couldn't resist chuckling at the sound of it. His master's former master scowled, "Anakin! How many times do I have to tell you not to use that nickname?"

Anakin smirked, "Come on, Obi-wan! Let's try not to be the cranky Grinch like you were at the party, okay?"

The famed Negotiator tried his best to hold back from killing his former student on the spot. Maybe, just injure him quite seriously so he would learn his lesson. Anakin merely motioned his Padawan to follow him to the mess, saying, "Come on, Dan. Aren't you hungry? Let's go to the mess."

They were just taking their first few steps when Obi-wan Force-pulled them back to him, "Oh, no, you don't," he said sternly. "None of you are off the hook yet."

The Hero With No Fear had a mock glimpse of fright in his eyes, but he still tried to challenge the old master, shouting, "Oh, come on! Dan's the one who asked for it!"

Obi-wan let Anakin go from his grip, and the younger man fell on his back with a thud and an annoyed grunt coming from the latter. But Obi-wan still held Dan in the air, his face clearly showing that a lengthy explanation was in order. Dan scowled at Anakin for having squealed at such small a pressure. The Padawan kicked his legs at the air, wanting to attack Obi-wan through the Force but he didn't dare to do so. Dan sighed, "Alright, alright! The contest was my idea!"

Anakin smiled in triumph. But apparently, he wasn't out of the woods, yet. "But it was Anakin who told us to fly in the first place," Dan finished.

Obi-wan let Dan go and turned to Anakin. He was furious at his former Padawan for urging a Padawan to unnecessarily perform dangerous stunts AND turn into a coward by putting the blame on someone else.

Anakin gulped. He knew that he probably wouldn't escape from Obi-wan's wrath alive, so he did the first thing that popped into his mind. "RUN!" Anakin shouted to Dan. The master-padawan pair spent the rest of the night evading Obi-wan, running through the corridors of the Jedi Temple…


	2. ANNOUNCEMENT (I'm so so sorry)

Hi, everyone!

I know y'all are looking forward to an update, but sadly, this isn't one. This is just a small announcement.

I will no longer update the stories on this site. Not because I decided to drop those stories. No, not at all. I just can't access this site anymore. It's kind of banned in my country. In fact, the only reason I can post this announcement is because I am using my phone's cellular data. I don't have a lot, just enough to post this. (These things are pretty expensive! Especially since I'm a jobless student...)

I still write the stories. I am currently in the process of posting them to my accounts (both under the name Jeanne152) on wattpad and ao3. If you want to, you're welcome to check them out.

I'm so so sorry for the inconvenience. I wish I can change things, but my hands are tied.

May the Force be with you all :)

Jeanne.

P S. : I'm also rewriting "When Two Worlds Collide". I admit I wasn't really thinking about the plot when I wrote, so if things fept weird, it's all on me. I've never asked a beta reader for help, so I'm kinda just making it up as I get along.

Also, let's go PENGUINS!


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